Daniel Farke is challenging Norwich City’s young guns to fire their way into his first team plans.
The Canaries’ poor goal return in the Championship ensures the focus is firmly on Farke’s bid to pep up his frontline.
Nelson Oliveira has suffered an injury-hit campaign while Cameron Jerome is also struggling with a foot injury ahead of Friday’s league game at Cardiff City (7.45pm).
Farke revealed Tristan Abrahams had caught his eye at development level, but the German admits it is a big step up for the teenage frontman or Under-23s team-mate Pierre Fonkeu.
“A guy like Tristan is not far away.
“I watched the last development game against Aston Villa and he scored,” he said. “But it is a big difference from playing in the under-23s and being a striker at Championship level.
“We are watching carefully but it is not a case that six or seven can play immediately. We are always looking at the guys in the under-23s and under-18s. It is important for a club who is not able to spend millions on new players to develop your own.
“But it is also important to wait for the right moment.
“We have a lot of young lads on the pitch already in the first team. Look at Preston, where Adam Phillips and Todd Cantwell were on the bench.
“Yes, we are struggling to score goals but you have to be careful to throw so many in. It is about the right balance between youth and experience.”
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Josh Murphy is City’s current top scorer but the young attacker is still to establish himself as a regular first choice under Farke.
“Josh has scored a lot of goals this season and can be brilliant, but then sometimes there is a performance when he is not on his best level,” he said. “It underlines our approach.
“I knew when I arrived we would go a special way and I am convinced of the quality with my lads.
“ decided to develop young lads and I am realistic to know there will be periods when the performance is up and down. That is quite normal with younger players. There can be a period like now when we are struggling with results.
“Plus we have had some experienced key players injured, like Alex Pritchard or Nelson and Timm Klose for periods.
“Maybe compared to some clubs we have better opportunities but it is also fair to say clubs like Wolves or Middlesbrough can spend more money than us to buy players. We are competitive, maybe not in financial terms, but on the pitch.”
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